Mental Health Task Force Getting an Earful

The Missouri Mental Health Task Force has gotten an earful in four public hearings, featuring more than eight hours of testimony, with at least two more public hearings ahead. Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, co-chairman of the task force, says members have learned a lot during public hearings in St. Louis, Kansas City, Cape Girardeau and Kirksville. He says a recurring theme is that abuse and neglect of mental patients is confined to a small percentage of staff that gets generally high marks. He says people have told the task force that workers at mental health institutions are underpaid and overworked, a theme he says isn’t new, but one which the task force will take back to the legislature. Kinder says a repeated recommendation that resonates with him is that an independent body should investigate reports of abuse, not the State Department of Mental Health. He says that the recommendation makes sense, though he cautions that he doesn’t speak for the entire task force. Some at the public hearings have implored the task force not to harm the good the Department of Mental Health is doing, while it attempts to address abuse. Kinder says that is the balancing act the task force has been assigned. The task force meets in Springfield tomorrow afternoon and in Joplin next week